Baldwin High Debuts District’s Second Health Center

BALDWIN, NY. — The Baldwin School District hosted an open house Wednesday to announce the opening of its newest school based health center, an on-campus medical facility that will offer behavioral, mental and physical treatment to Baldwin high schoolers.

The center opened thanks to a partnership with nonprofit group Harmony Healthcare Long Island, and is the second medical facility in the district, following the mental health center that opened at Baldwin Middle School in the 2023-24 academic year.

For Baldwin High students, the facility will be open year-round, including summer months when school isn’t in session. District officials said services will be offered regardless of insurance status, and the facility is currently staffed by a medical assistant, a nurse practitioner, a program manager, and a licensed social worker.

“We’re very excited to have this opportunity to service our students and families at the high school level,” Superintendent Anthony Mignella said. “It’s really supporting the whole child.”

Mignella said in an interview that the health center was over a year in the planning, becoming part of renovation efforts at the district and securing supplemental grant funding from 21st District State Assemblymember Judy Griffin in the process. The end result of all that planning, Mignella said, is a facility that will keep students coming to—and staying at — school.

“The goal was to open a center at the high school to continue to remove barriers for students that might prevent them from coming to school,” Mignella said. “And, when you look at the research, a few of those barriers are physical health, mental health, you know, a safe, nurturing school. So, we wanted to make sure our high school was able to provide physical health as well as mental health services to students. And Harmony Health, they’re charging families’ insurance companies, so you have to enroll but there’s no copay, no fee to do that. So, as long as students and families enroll in the program, if they’re not feeling well, they can go right to the wellness center here at the high school.”

For families looking to enroll their students in the wellness center, Mignella said a link is available on the district’s website. At the moment, there are no plans for additional school based health centers in the district, although Mignella said that could change depending on enrollment in the existing programs.

“Right now, we’re very proud to have our two programs running,” the superintendent said. “We have plenty of slots available, still, here at the high school wellness center. If the need arises where this particular program is overwhelmed, we will certainly look to add onto it, have conversations with David Demiroff from HHLI as we monitor enrollment. If there’s greater need for mental health here at the high school we’ll certainly add personnel, and vice versa.”

CORRECTION: A previous edition of this story identified Assemblymember Griffin as, "Congresswoman Judy Griffin." That description has been updated to reflect her correct title as State Assemblymember. Patch regrets the error.